1/20/2024
McCarter Brothers Racing tackle Sunshine Nationals; Pierce victorious in 602 Late Model
Pierce McCarter piloted the Jim Beeman Lumber / West End Package Store / McCarter Brothers Racing No. 71 Tennessee Homemade Wines / Parkway Liquor Store / MasterSbilt Race Car Late Model to the $3,000 victory in the 602 Late Model feature in Saturday evening’s Sunshine Nationals finale at Volusia Speedway Park.
The Tennessee racer surged to the lead in the closing laps of the finale to snare his first victory of the 2024 campaign along with the DIRTcar 602 Sunshine Nationals championship.
“The restart before the last one, I hit the top in (turns) one and two pretty good but I went over the crest – there’s a little ridge right there in the middle of the corner – and I got lucky that the caution came out, and I knew I wouldn’t make that mistake again. So, on the next restart this MasterSbilt stuck right in the middle, and we got to the lead and the win. This past week and really this past month has been such a rollercoaster. We’ve been fast all week but never could complete more than 10 laps until tonight, so to be here means so much,” McCarter said in Victory Lane. “I can’t say enough about Tader and Jerilyn Masters and my whole team and family for standing behind me. Last but definitely not least I want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I wouldn’t be here without him and he gives me the strength to get up every morning.”
While heavy rains washed out the Thursday night opener, Pierce and Mack McCarter kicked off the Sunshine Nationals weekend on Friday afternoon at Volusia Speedway Park (De Leon Springs, Fla.) in both the Super Late Model and 602 Late Model divisions.
Topping the 602 Late Model charts, Pierce earned a spot in the first preliminary feature where he would go on to finish third.
For Saturday's 602 show, Pierce fell back in his heat race which relegated him to a fourth-row starting spot in the 20-lap feature. Inching into the Top-3 with a few laps left before the final caution, Pierce utilized the late-race restart to propel himself from third-to-first with just two laps to go. McCarter kept Bubba Roling and Mario Gresham at bay till the checkered flag dropped and he collected $3,000 for his efforts.
In World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series competition, Mack was unable to crack the A-Main both evenings with a 13th-place outing in Friday's B-Main and just barely missing the cut-off in Saturday's Last Chance Showdown with a third-place finish.
Full results from the weekend can be found at www.VolusiaSpeedwayPark.com and www.WorldOfOutlaws.com.
McCarter Brothers Racing is now swapping the 602 crate engine out of Pierce’s entry in favor of a 604 crate engine as they prepare for three nights of Crate Racin’ USA Winter Shootout action at East Bay Raceway Park (Gibsonton, Fla.). On Thursday and Friday competitors will vie for a $2,500 winner’s check each night, while Saturday’s finale posts a $5,000 top prize.
For more information on the miniseries, please visit www.CrateRacinUSA.com .
Article Credit: Chris Anderson photo
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